Axel Rüger, curator of Dutch paintings at the National Gallery, London (Clore Duffield Foundation supported)
I did the programme to gain more training and be better equipped for challenges beyond the strict curatorial job I have. The great benefit for me was the peer-to-peer networking.
It became glaringly obvious how many concerns we all have in common like audience development, diversity and securing funding. That's not to deny that each artform exists in its own right but we have dwelled on the uniqueness for a very long time.
The course involved individual tuition, financial management, fundraising and working with specialists. I did a three-month secondment at the Royal Court Theatre in London and also researched governance structures in museums in Europe. I benefited hugely from the practical aspects such as strategic planning and financial management.
The programme broadened my horizons. It became much clearer how big the world is beyond your organisation. I went back into my old job but the challenges at the National Gallery are still big.
I will be working with the Royal Court Theatre on a display for its 50th anniversary celebration next year. It will open in January at the National Portrait Gallery with a selection of portraits of theatre writers, directors and actors.
The Royal Court is vastly different: it's a theatre that stages contemporary writing so the planning cycle is three months. A national museum's planning cycle is more like six years.
The Royal Court is a much smaller organisation and is less bureaucratic with more focus on interacting and getting things done. But there were also similarities, like audience projections and programme balance.
Jacqueline Riding, former director of Handel House Museum, London, cultural consultant
I had come to a point in my career where having led a small organisation I realised that in order to move on professionally and personally I needed to go through some kind of professional development.
I was attracted to the Clore programme because it had a group support mechanism but it also allowed us to focus on our different development needs. Sometimes you forget that you have to develop yourself as a person in order to lead and develop organisations which, at the end of the day, are about people.
I did a three and a half month secondment at the National Theatre. It was really interesting - I specifically wanted to go to a national in another sector to see how they operate.
It was fantastic watching a highly successful organisation, with a huge buzz, a new and enthusiastic management team and a highly successful director, and seeing what made it successful - and of course it was glamorous bumping into actors!
I also went to Stanford Business School, which was more formal: lectures and group seminars. They used a psychologist to discuss how to negotiate from a position of no authority. He used the film 12 Angry Men, which was a clever way of opening up the discussion and analysing different negotiating techniques.
Because Clore is pan-cultural it makes you stand back from the sector. My experience and background is in museums but Clore enabled me to look at what's happening in the bigger cultural sector. And it might be that Clore enables me to step out of the museum sector and use those transferable leadership skills in a broader cultural setting.
Nick Merriman, curator of museums and collections and reader in museum studies, University College London (MLA-supported)
I had been looking at some sort of leadership training for quite some time. Although I am quite good at asking colleagues to do training, I had not been very good at doing it myself.
One of the beautiful things about Clore is that while there are some things you all do, a lot of the programme is extremely bespoke. So there is a core of common experience, but the rest is tailored to you.
The network of people beyond museums is fantastic and the support from the other fellows is great. I realised we all have a lot in common.
I did gain some new skills such as financial management, but unexpectedly and more importantly, I have gained confidence in my own abilities. One of the surprises was the role of personal development in the programme. Leadership is as much about knowing yourself as it is knowing about financial management, marketing and so on.
I did my secondment at the Roundhouse in London. I was given a specific role to develop ideas for the programme of events and activities around their re-opening to the public, and then to research and develop proposals for a Friends/Members scheme.
It was really interesting working in a medium-sized arts organisation where we were all in one office. The thing that struck me the most about the performing arts is that they are run on a much more commercial basis than museums in that they don't get the big core grants that most museums get.
The main thing for me now is that I have a new job; I was offered the directorship of the Manchester Museum and I will be starting next year.
Mark Dusseault, publicist for the Belfry Theatre, Victoria, Canada (self-funded)
I did two secondments: seven weeks at the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, Alberta, and then five weeks at the Arnolfini in Bristol.
At the Glenbow I had an opportunity to shadow Mike Robinson, the chief executive officer, for the entire secondment.
I felt watching someone lead a multimillion-dollar organisation, with all of its stresses and successes, would be valuable for me. And with the exception of one 'donor ask' meeting, Mike granted me complete access to his working life.
I attended meetings with everyone from chief executive officers of multinationals to front desk clerks. We even had a private lunch with a former prime minister of Canada. I learned the importance of building relationships for an organisation's short and long-term future.
I work in a theatre whose mandate is to produce new work. It's rare that we present a play that is more than five years old. 'Dusty and musty' sometimes leaps to mind when people think of museums and I expected much the same; my experience at the Glenbow was anything but.
It's a very vibrant organisation charged with maintaining an eclectic collection. The operations and mandate differ from the theatre but I think that at the heart of every arts body is the goal of telling a story to an audience. How we do that is just vastly different - some use a collection, others a play.
The skills I learned during the secondments were far more about leadership and personal relationships than 'hard skills'. I feel they have made me more thoughtful and respectful of others, perhaps a better person, but ultimately that will have to be decided by others.
Stephen Escritt, executive director of Carlton Hobbs, a privately owned antiques company (Clore Duffield Foundation supported)
My secondment was at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, initially for four months. It was a very exciting time for the gallery as the plans to transform the adjacent Whitechapel Library into new education and gallery spaces were progressing.
I was involved in producing a masterplan that articulated the impact that the expanded gallery will have, as well as scoping and pursuing the various public-funding options.
Following my secondment, I continued to work for the gallery for six months with responsibility for external relations, partnerships and public sector funding and I plan to continue my involvement with the Whitechapel on a voluntary basis as one of the directors of its new trading company.
The secondment has been hugely beneficial for me. Close involvement with an institution at a time of major change has provided many insights into leadership, organisational capacity and the demands placed on institutions by the funding landscape.
In art terms, my specialisms are 20th-century decorative arts and architecture as well as 18th- and 19th-century design and decorative arts. Contemporary art was definitely outside my comfort zone - not any more.
As so many institutions cover historic and contemporary material it is important to have an understanding of both, and there is no better introduction to the contemporary world than working with Iwona Blazwick, the director, and the rest of the Whitechapel team.
The Clore Fellowship has given me the wide range of skills and the confidence that are needed to lead a successful cultural organisation.
Keith Merrin, director of Bede's World, Jarrow, Tyne and Wear (Clore Duffield Foundation supported)
When I applied for the fellowship I had been the director of Bede's World for nearly three years. I had a lot of experience in managing charities before Bede's World, but none in the museum sector.
Those first three years were a tremendous time of growth for the organisation and I had been working flat out to achieve and sustain this success. I saw the fellowship as an chance to pause for breath and look at filling some of the gaps in my understanding and skills in the museum and wider cultural sector.
For me, the emphasis has been on learning from others rather than formal training. We have heard from some of the most inspirational and successful figures in the UK's cultural sector. Their openness about failure and weakness as well as success has been a true learning experience.
Perhaps the most surprising benefit has been discovering the wealth of knowledge, diversity and experience within the group itself. The answers to most problems can soon be found in what is becoming a strong network of contacts.
I spent several months seconded to the Newcastle Gateshead Initiative, an organisation that runs a major £50m cultural programme. I worked closely with organisations and individuals in visual and performing arts, film, museums and sport.
It gave me a fantastic insight into the entirety of the cultural sector in the region and I made many contacts that are still strong and relevant back at Bede's World.
The problems, frustrations and joys that we experience in museums are directly transferable to other parts of the cultural sector. The subject matter and jargon changes, but so much else is common.
I did the programme to gain more training and be better equipped for challenges beyond the strict curatorial job I have. The great benefit for me was the peer-to-peer networking.
It became glaringly obvious how many concerns we all have in common like audience development, diversity and securing funding. That's not to deny that each artform exists in its own right but we have dwelled on the uniqueness for a very long time.
The course involved individual tuition, financial management, fundraising and working with specialists. I did a three-month secondment at the Royal Court Theatre in London and also researched governance structures in museums in Europe. I benefited hugely from the practical aspects such as strategic planning and financial management.
The programme broadened my horizons. It became much clearer how big the world is beyond your organisation. I went back into my old job but the challenges at the National Gallery are still big.
I will be working with the Royal Court Theatre on a display for its 50th anniversary celebration next year. It will open in January at the National Portrait Gallery with a selection of portraits of theatre writers, directors and actors.
The Royal Court is vastly different: it's a theatre that stages contemporary writing so the planning cycle is three months. A national museum's planning cycle is more like six years.
The Royal Court is a much smaller organisation and is less bureaucratic with more focus on interacting and getting things done. But there were also similarities, like audience projections and programme balance.
Jacqueline Riding, former director of Handel House Museum, London, cultural consultant
I had come to a point in my career where having led a small organisation I realised that in order to move on professionally and personally I needed to go through some kind of professional development.
I was attracted to the Clore programme because it had a group support mechanism but it also allowed us to focus on our different development needs. Sometimes you forget that you have to develop yourself as a person in order to lead and develop organisations which, at the end of the day, are about people.
I did a three and a half month secondment at the National Theatre. It was really interesting - I specifically wanted to go to a national in another sector to see how they operate.
It was fantastic watching a highly successful organisation, with a huge buzz, a new and enthusiastic management team and a highly successful director, and seeing what made it successful - and of course it was glamorous bumping into actors!
I also went to Stanford Business School, which was more formal: lectures and group seminars. They used a psychologist to discuss how to negotiate from a position of no authority. He used the film 12 Angry Men, which was a clever way of opening up the discussion and analysing different negotiating techniques.
Because Clore is pan-cultural it makes you stand back from the sector. My experience and background is in museums but Clore enabled me to look at what's happening in the bigger cultural sector. And it might be that Clore enables me to step out of the museum sector and use those transferable leadership skills in a broader cultural setting.
Nick Merriman, curator of museums and collections and reader in museum studies, University College London (MLA-supported)
I had been looking at some sort of leadership training for quite some time. Although I am quite good at asking colleagues to do training, I had not been very good at doing it myself.
One of the beautiful things about Clore is that while there are some things you all do, a lot of the programme is extremely bespoke. So there is a core of common experience, but the rest is tailored to you.
The network of people beyond museums is fantastic and the support from the other fellows is great. I realised we all have a lot in common.
I did gain some new skills such as financial management, but unexpectedly and more importantly, I have gained confidence in my own abilities. One of the surprises was the role of personal development in the programme. Leadership is as much about knowing yourself as it is knowing about financial management, marketing and so on.
I did my secondment at the Roundhouse in London. I was given a specific role to develop ideas for the programme of events and activities around their re-opening to the public, and then to research and develop proposals for a Friends/Members scheme.
It was really interesting working in a medium-sized arts organisation where we were all in one office. The thing that struck me the most about the performing arts is that they are run on a much more commercial basis than museums in that they don't get the big core grants that most museums get.
The main thing for me now is that I have a new job; I was offered the directorship of the Manchester Museum and I will be starting next year.
Mark Dusseault, publicist for the Belfry Theatre, Victoria, Canada (self-funded)
I did two secondments: seven weeks at the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, Alberta, and then five weeks at the Arnolfini in Bristol.
At the Glenbow I had an opportunity to shadow Mike Robinson, the chief executive officer, for the entire secondment.
I felt watching someone lead a multimillion-dollar organisation, with all of its stresses and successes, would be valuable for me. And with the exception of one 'donor ask' meeting, Mike granted me complete access to his working life.
I attended meetings with everyone from chief executive officers of multinationals to front desk clerks. We even had a private lunch with a former prime minister of Canada. I learned the importance of building relationships for an organisation's short and long-term future.
I work in a theatre whose mandate is to produce new work. It's rare that we present a play that is more than five years old. 'Dusty and musty' sometimes leaps to mind when people think of museums and I expected much the same; my experience at the Glenbow was anything but.
It's a very vibrant organisation charged with maintaining an eclectic collection. The operations and mandate differ from the theatre but I think that at the heart of every arts body is the goal of telling a story to an audience. How we do that is just vastly different - some use a collection, others a play.
The skills I learned during the secondments were far more about leadership and personal relationships than 'hard skills'. I feel they have made me more thoughtful and respectful of others, perhaps a better person, but ultimately that will have to be decided by others.
Stephen Escritt, executive director of Carlton Hobbs, a privately owned antiques company (Clore Duffield Foundation supported)
My secondment was at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, initially for four months. It was a very exciting time for the gallery as the plans to transform the adjacent Whitechapel Library into new education and gallery spaces were progressing.
I was involved in producing a masterplan that articulated the impact that the expanded gallery will have, as well as scoping and pursuing the various public-funding options.
Following my secondment, I continued to work for the gallery for six months with responsibility for external relations, partnerships and public sector funding and I plan to continue my involvement with the Whitechapel on a voluntary basis as one of the directors of its new trading company.
The secondment has been hugely beneficial for me. Close involvement with an institution at a time of major change has provided many insights into leadership, organisational capacity and the demands placed on institutions by the funding landscape.
In art terms, my specialisms are 20th-century decorative arts and architecture as well as 18th- and 19th-century design and decorative arts. Contemporary art was definitely outside my comfort zone - not any more.
As so many institutions cover historic and contemporary material it is important to have an understanding of both, and there is no better introduction to the contemporary world than working with Iwona Blazwick, the director, and the rest of the Whitechapel team.
The Clore Fellowship has given me the wide range of skills and the confidence that are needed to lead a successful cultural organisation.
Keith Merrin, director of Bede's World, Jarrow, Tyne and Wear (Clore Duffield Foundation supported)
When I applied for the fellowship I had been the director of Bede's World for nearly three years. I had a lot of experience in managing charities before Bede's World, but none in the museum sector.
Those first three years were a tremendous time of growth for the organisation and I had been working flat out to achieve and sustain this success. I saw the fellowship as an chance to pause for breath and look at filling some of the gaps in my understanding and skills in the museum and wider cultural sector.
For me, the emphasis has been on learning from others rather than formal training. We have heard from some of the most inspirational and successful figures in the UK's cultural sector. Their openness about failure and weakness as well as success has been a true learning experience.
Perhaps the most surprising benefit has been discovering the wealth of knowledge, diversity and experience within the group itself. The answers to most problems can soon be found in what is becoming a strong network of contacts.
I spent several months seconded to the Newcastle Gateshead Initiative, an organisation that runs a major £50m cultural programme. I worked closely with organisations and individuals in visual and performing arts, film, museums and sport.
It gave me a fantastic insight into the entirety of the cultural sector in the region and I made many contacts that are still strong and relevant back at Bede's World.
The problems, frustrations and joys that we experience in museums are directly transferable to other parts of the cultural sector. The subject matter and jargon changes, but so much else is common.